Seat 1 — Noah Jefferson
Chips: 842,000 (third place at final table)
Lifetime winnings: $368,361
2008 Player of the Year (POY) points: 510 (144th place)
Hometown: Lafayette, California
Prior WPT experience: 30th place — 2005 Bay 101 Shooting Star; 39th place — 2005 Five Diamond World Poker Classic; 18th place — 2006 World Poker Challenge; 40th place — 2007 Five-Star World Poker Classic; 96th place — Five-Diamond World Poker Classic
Poker accomplishments: Jefferson started his career with a great run in the San Francisco bay area, taking a first, second, and third place in the Golden Gate Classic. Jefferson has more than 30 cashes and is one of the more consistent players on tour.
Pivotal Bay 101 Shooting Star hands (pulled from Live Updates):
- Noah Jefferson Eliminates Dan Morris
Noah Jefferson raises to 18,000, and Dan "DJ Sensei" Morris reraises 59,000 from the small blind.
Jefferson announces all in, and Morris makes the call. Jefferson shows A
K
and Morris has a slight lead with Q
Q.
The flop comes 7 5 5, and Morris keeps the lead. The turn is the 10, giving Jefferson some more outs with a flush draw, and the river is the 4 to give him the pot and eliminate Morris in 16th place.
Jefferson now has 855,000.
- Noah Jefferson Eliminates Kent Washington
With A 9 7 J on the board, Noah Jefferson bets 20,000, and Kent Washington raises all in. Jefferson makes the call and flips up 77 for the set. Washington shows J
10 for second pair, and the river brings the 6. Washington is eliminated on the hand in 31st place.
- Noah Jefferson Eliminates Tim Foster
Tim Foster and Noah Jefferson get it all in preflop and open up their hands:
Foster: A A
Jefferson: 8 8
Board: 8 5 2 5 Q
Jefferson flops a set to win the pot, and Foster is eliminated in 32nd place.
Seat 2 — John Phan
Chips: 374,000 (sixth place at final table)
Lifetime winnings: $3,292,213
2008 Player of the Year (POY) points: 117 (944th place)
Hometown: Long Beach, California
Prior WPT experience: 32nd place — 2004 World Poker Finals; 33rd place — 2005 Jack Binion World Poker Open; fourth place — 2005 Five-Star World Poker Classic; 96th place — 2006 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure; 26th place — 2006 Borgata Open; 19th place — 2007 Winter Poker Open; 22nd place — 2008 World Poker Open
Poker accomplishments: In addition to having more than 100 cashes in live tournaments over the last nine years, Phan has 15 wins and four World Series of Poker final tables.
Pivotal Bay 101 Shooting Star hands (pulled from Live Updates):
- John Phan Eliminates Clonie Gowen
John Phan raises 15,000 under the gun, and Clonie Gowen reraises 50,000 more from the small blind. Phan makes the call, and the flop brings 9 8 3. Gowen moves all in, and Phan makes the call. Gowen turns up pocket sevens, and Phan reveals Q 10. The turn and river fall 6 and 7, and Gowen is eliminated in 14th place. She will take home $24,000 in prize money.
Seat 3 — Brandon Cantu
Chips: 3,323,000 (first place at final table)
Lifetime winnings: $1,046,975
2008 Player of the Year (POY) points: 284 (413th place)
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
Prior WPT experience: 18th Place — 2006 Festa Al Lago Classic; 19th place — 2007 World Poker Challenge
Poker accomplishments: Cantu burst onto the poker scene by winning event No. 1 of the 2006 World Series of Poker. Cantu has 14 cashes in his short career, including nine final tables.
Pivotal Bay 101 Shooting Star hands (pulled from Live Updates):
- Brandon Cantu Eliminates David Tran
Cantu and Tran limp to a flop of K J 9. Tran moves all in, and Cantu makes the call. Cantu holds Q 10 for a flopped straight to Tran's K 6. The turn and river fall A Q. Tran is eliminated in eighth place, and he will take home $68,000. Cantu is now the chip leader heading into the final seven, and he has over 2.5 million.
- Brandon Cantu Eliminates Joe Hachem
After a flop of 9 6 5, Shooting Star Joe Hachem bets 20,000 from the small blind, and Brandon Cantu calls from the big blind. The turn card is the 2, Hachem bets 40,000, and Cantu raises to 150,000.
Hachem goes into the tank for about four minutes and finally decides to move all in for a total of 231,500. Cantu asks for an exact count before he calls with A 6 for a pair of sixes. Hachem shows K 9 for a pair of nines, and he's a big favorite to double up.
Cantu needs an ace or a 6 to bust Hachem, who walks about a table away so he doesn't have to see the river card with his own eyes — he'll know what it is by the crowd's reaction before Tournament Director Matt Savage even has a chance to announce it.
The river card is the A.
The crowd lets out a shocked moan, and Hachem yells, "No!" as he grabs his head in disbelief. Cantu wins the pot with two pair, aces and sixes.
Seat 4 — Steve Sung
Chips: 474,000 (fifth place at final table)
Lifetime winnings: $856,023
2008 Player of the Year (POY) points: 0
Hometown: Torrance, California
Prior WPT experience: Ninth place — 2006 Five-Diamond World Poker Classic; 21st place — 2007 L.A. Poker Classic; 12th place — 2007 Foxwoods Poker Classic; 23rd place — 2007 Mandalay Bay Poker Championship; fourth place — 2007 Spanish Championship; 41st place — 2008 Borgata Winter Open
Poker accomplishments: Sung has been a consistent force on the tournament trail since 2005. He has 13 final tables to his credit, including two World Series of Poker final tables. Sung is still looking for his first live win.
Pivotal Bay 101 Shooting Star hands (pulled from Live Updates):
- Steve Sung Doubles Up
On a board of 8 5 2 A J, Jason Gray moves all in, and Steve Sung goes into the tank. A call will put him all in, and he eventually does decide to commit his chips. Sung shows A J to Gray's Q10, and he wins the pot to double up to 240,000.
Seat 5 — Jennifer Harman
Chips: 541,000 (fourth place at final table)
Lifetime winnings: $1,606,352
2008 Player of the Year (POY) points: 0
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
Prior WPT experience: 47th place — 2004 Five-Star World Poker Challenge; 18th place — 2004 Festa Al Lago II; 29th place — 2004 Legends of Poker; 65th place — 2005 Five-Star World Poker Classic; 61st place — 2005 Legends of Poker
Poker accomplishments: Jennifer Harman is considered by many to be the best female player in the world. In addition to her two World Series of Poker bracelets, Harman also has 18 final tables and plays in the biggest cash game in the world at Bellagio.
Pivotal Bay 101 Shooting Star hands (pulled from Live Updates):
- Jennifer Harman Eliminates Thanh Phung to Nearly Double Up
Harman and Phung limp to a flop of 8 5 5, and Harman bets 30,000. Phung min-raises to 60,000, and Harman reraises all in. Phung makes the all-in call and turns up K 10. Harman shows A 9, and the turn and river fall 4 and 7.
- Jennifer Harman Stays Alive
John Phan raises to 12,000 on the button, and Jennifer Harman reraises another 30,000 from the small blind. After a few minutes of deliberation, Phan makes the call. The flop comes Q 10 9, and Harman shoves all in for 121,500. Phan goes into the tank for more than five minutes before calling the clock on himself.
As the clock winds down, Phan sits there motionless and deep in thought until time runs out. Matt Savage declares Phan's hand is dead and he snaps out of his trance, cracks a smile, and asks for five more seconds. The dealer pulls his hand into the muck and Harman wins the hand.
- Jennifer Harman Doubles Up
Jennifer Harman raises to 12,000 under the gun and John Phan reraises to 104,000 from the big blind, putting her all in.
Harman quickly calls showing, K K, and Phan grimaces as he reluctantly turns over K J. The board comes 6 5 2 10 10, and Harman doubles up to 179,000.
Seat 6 — Mike Baker
Chips: 1,964,000 (second place at final table)
Lifetime winnings: $14,719
2008 Player of the Year (POY) points: 0
Hometown: Ontario, Canada
Prior WPT experience: N/A
Poker accomplishments: Baker has two other cashes, but remains the only relatively unknown player at the final table. Today’s finish will guarantee Baker his largest career cash, by far.
Pivotal Bay 101 Shooting Star hands (pulled from Live Updates):
- Mike Baker Eliminates Lee Watkinson
Mike Baker raises under the gun to 23,000, Lee Watkinson calls from the button, and John Phan calls from the big blind. The flop comes K 9 3, and all three players check. The turn card is the Q, Phan checks, Baker bets 80,000, Watkinson raises to 240,000, Phan folds, and Baker moves all in.
Watkinson thinks for a while before he calls with K Q for top two pair, kings and queens, but Baker shows 9 9 for a set of nines, and Watkinson needs to catch a king or a queen (four outs) to stay alive. The river card pairs the board with a 3, and Mike Baker wins the pot with a full house, nines full of threes, increasing his stack to about 1.8 million.
